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Choose a theme and two questions that must be answered to avoid infection, e.g. two important values, two strengths, two character traits. Choose the 1st Zombie by asking for the best Zombie face. Then have the drummers play a steady Bass pulse. A person has to list the chosen field before the Zombie reaches them (light touch to shoulder), if they are to avoid being infected. If anyone is infected by the Zombie they join them in the middle of the circle until all are Zombies.
Note - This game can also be used to have people reflect on a wide range of issues in a fun way, including values, strengths, fears, emotions, boundaries etc.
Choose a theme and two questions that must be answered to avoid infection, e.g. two important values, two strengths, two character traits. Choose the 1st Zombie by asking for the best Zombie face. Then have the drummers play a steady Bass pulse. A person has to list the chosen field before the Zombie reaches them (light touch to shoulder), if they are to avoid being infected. If anyone is infected by the Zombie they join them in the middle of the circle until all are Zombies.
Note - This game can also be used to have people reflect on a wide range of issues in a fun way, including values, strengths, fears, emotions, boundaries etc.
Ask one person to play a slow, steady pulse on the Bass note of their drum (they are the co-facilitator).
Say: ‘In this game I am going to ask a series of questions and you are going to stand up if they are true about you and stay seated if not – try and stand and sit on the pulse of the Bass note, not in between the notes.’
Ask a series of questions relevant to your group that promote tolerance.[AQ]
• Stand if you have a friend who is different from you.
• Stand if you speak two languages.
• Stand if you like football.
• Stand if you ever get lonely.
• Stand if you live with one parent.
• Stand if you like ice cream.
• Stand if you like to win.
• Stand if you like to get your own way.
• Stand if you like music.
• Stand if you ever get angry.
Adapt the questions to participants’ age range and interests. Replace standing and sitting with other indicators, such as different drum responses, for those with physical difficulties that make standing difficult.
Have a discussion on the things that make us human, things that unite us and things that divide us. Did you notice how many of these questions we answered together? As people do you think we are more alike or less alike? Why do you think we sometimes focus more on the differences between us than on recognising our similarities?
Note: Amend the questions to suit the issues of the individual or group.
Define the term ‘scratch my back’ in relation to the support we give to each other in healthy relationships. What are some of the ways we can support each other?
Explain that in this game you have to pass a scratch from your drum to another person as a way of saying that you would support them if they needed you.
Start with everyone playing the heartbeat foundation rhythm. Then choose one person to add the scratch to their rhythm and pass it over to someone else using eye contact as a way of offering support to that person. The receiver then has to pass it on to another member in the same way and so the game continues.
How important is it to share and support each other in families or as friends? What happens in families when people only think of themselves? Have you seen situations where one person is exploited by others – that is they do all the work? If you were stuck in this sort of relationship what could you do?
This is an exercise that looks at behavioural change and self-responsibility.
Revisit the discussion on power and extend it to look at personal responsibility. How much power (agency) do you think you have to make the best of your life? How much power do you have over your thoughts and feelings? How much power do you have over how you act and the choices you make? Where does responsibility intersect with your power? If you assume responsibility do you take back power?
Note: it is important to acknowledge that people’s feelings of agency vary at different times of their lives.
Once there is a consensus that in many ways we do have power to determine our future and we need to take responsibility for that (as much as we can); The phrase - O o O - o O , B b B - b B is practiced, which represents the theme ‘If it is to be - Then it’s up to me’. (I often split this so one half of a group play the Tones and the other replies with the Bass notes)
A flowing rhythm starts (which represents the flow of life), & the practitioner tells the group that he/she will interrupt that flow with a countdown 4,3,2,1, STOP, just like problems or challenges that surface from time to time in our own lives. To resume the flow, the group will play the break – ‘If it is to be, then it’s up to me’ (taking responsibility to find the solutions, make the right choices or seek help). Finish by having everyone say the phrase over the top of the break.
Discuss the importance of responsibility in life generally, and how it relates to trust, social cohesion and freedom.
Preliminary Questions:
Rumble if you have ever had someone help you through a difficult period of your life
What are some of the situations where you might need friends to support you?
What does the term 'fair weather friend' mean?
Friends,
In this game, we ask for two people to come forward who trust each other – these two people pair up and work together to negotiate a maze, made up from other participants standing still like pillars. First the chosen pair agree on four sounds:
• One for walk straight ahead – steady beat
• One for stop – sharp sound
• One for move right
• One for move left
Bring 4 or 5 others into the circle and arrange in a maze, (these people stand with hands folded across chest) and represent the hurdles of life (if people bump into them – they may cry out – you just bumped into …….. e.g. ill health or relationship breakdown).
Then from the chosen pair, one person is blindfolded while the other steers them by walking closely behind them playing different signals on a small drum.
Addition – sometimes you can name the people in the maze as the different hurdles we have noted that may require friendship to overcome. If someone bumps into these – they yell out the life obstacle they represent.
Discuss: "How important is trust between friends?" "What is trust built upon?" Who has had a close friend help them avoid problems in their lives? How hard is it to listen to friends who want you to change your behaviour? How does the context impact your degree of trust?
Discuss the nature of change as a constant in life and the need to adapt to change – find examples, such as change in climate, change in body, change in government, change in locality, change in workplace, change in schools.
In this exercise, the facilitator starts a rhythm and appoints a ‘change maker’ – this person can alter the rhythm in three different ways, by:
• changing the rhythm itself by adding or subtracting different beats
• changing the tempo by speeding up or slowing down
• changing the volume by getting louder or softer.
Other group members must adapt their rhythm in line with the change maker.
What helps you adapt to change? What are the consequences of not adapting? Is too much change unsettling or dangerous? Is leadership and communication important to implementing and adapting to change?
Note this exercise also has strong application within corporate development programs and for children on the spectrum who struggle with change.